Typewriting machine



Nov. 23 i926. 1,608,219

' A. G. F. KUROWSKI TYPEWRITING mcrmw Filed April 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 23 1926.

A. G. F. KUROWSKI 'IYPEWR-ITING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Shee t 2 Filed April 23, 1924 Patented Nov. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT eFFIQE,

ALFRED G. F. KUROW'SKI, Q13 BROOKLYN, NEW] YGRK, ASSZGNQR TO UNDERWOOD TYPE- WRITER COMPANY, OF NEVJ' YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TYPEW'HI'I'ING MACHINE.

Application filed April 23,

My invention relates to an improvement in typewriting machines, and more particularly to attachments for converting typewriting machines into stencil-cutters.

One of the features of the invention is the provision of mechanism of a simplified form which may be readily attached to and re moved from the standard typewriting machine, for temporarily converting the machine into a stencil-cutting machine.

Another feature of the invention embodies an arrangement whereby the stencil when inserted in the machine causes contact to be made between the feed-rolls and the platen, to feed the stencil during the cutting operation.

Another feature is the provision of a mounting for the feeding means and the driving means therefor, such that movement of the feeding means away from the platen results in a closer engagement between said means and the platen.

The invention further contemplates the provision of feeding means for the stencil in the form of rolls with roughened engaging surfaces to tightly grasp the stencil, independently spring-pressed toward the platen, but limited in their movement: toward the platen to a posit-ion just out of contact with the surface thereof to prevent marring of the blaten.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

in the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front view of a carriage of a typewriting machine provided with the improved attachment.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Fi 'ures 3 and at are sections along the lines -rlli and 3-3, respectively, of Figure 1.

Figure 4c is a fragmentary. view of a guide-finger showing a stop secured thereto. i Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the back of a guide-finger showing a modified form of stop means.

Figure 5 is a section on the line DD of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a front View of a portion of one. of the guide-fingers with parts in section.

Figure 7 is a section on the line CC of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a plan View of the stencil-cylinder with the backing-holder shown in clamping position.

1924. Serial No. 708.332.

The present embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated inv connection with the carriage 10 of a standard typewriting machine, comprises means to support a strip of carbon 12 about a platen 11 of the machine, and means co-operating with the platen to hold a stencil l3 centered with the strip, and to feed the stencil with the platen during the cutting thereof. The strip-supporting means, which is adapted to be detachably connected with the carriage, comprises a pair of end plates 14, which are connected by tierods 15, and a pair of shafts 16 and 17 is journaled in the end plates.

One of the shafts, 16 in the present instance, is of a. sizeto fit within a core 18 upon which the strip '12 is wound, and, in order to constrain the core to turn with the shaft, the shaft has a cross-pin 19, near one end, which embeds itself in the core when the core is slipped upon the shaft. he other shaft, 17, is the receiving shaft for the used carbon, and it is longitudinally slotted, as shown at 20, for engagement by the end of the strip, thereby to cause the strip to be wound upon the shaft when it is turned in the proper direction. The shafts 16 and 17 have knobs 21 and 22, by means of which they may be turned when shifting the strip with respect to the platen.

The shafts are longitudinally movable in the end plates, in order that they may be withdrawn therefrom to permit renewal of the carbon-strip, and they are held in proper position in the plates by means of a locking plate 23, which is pivoted to one of the end plates, as indicated at 24. The ends of the locking plate are oppositely notched at 25, to receive the ends of the shafts 16 and 17, and the shafts are annularly grooved at 26, to fit within the notches. The engagement between the locking plate and the grooves prevents longitudinal movement of the shafts, and the locking plate has latch mechanism in the form of struck-up lugs 27 to endepressions in the side plate when the locking plate is in locked position.

In order to tension the carbon-strip, a spring-plate 28 is pivoted intermediate its ends on one of the tie-rods 15 extending between the end plates, and the ends of the spring-plate bear upon the carbon-strip rolled upon the shaft 16 and 17. The carbonstrip does not move with the platen, and the spring provides sufficient tension to hold Ill) the strip during the shifting of the platen during the cutting of the stencil. The spring changes its position in accordance with the change in diameter of the wound portions of the strip, and provides at all times an equal and uniform tension on both ends of the strip.

Each of the end plates 1% is notched on its under edge, and near its forward end, as shown at 30, to engage a tierod 29 of the carriage, and, at the opposite end, each plate is notched, as shown at 31, to engage the rear beadededge of the paper-table The frame constituted by the end plates 14: and the shaft and tic-rods is corrected with the carriage at about the center of the platen, and it is easily attached or detached by springing the rod 29 rearwardly. A tie-rod 31 extending across the rear of the carriage and immediately under the beaded edge of the paper-table 32 carries a pair of suitably secured collars 32". These collars coact with the outer ends of hooked portions formed on the notched end plates 14: to secure the strip-supporting means against lateral displacement.

The means for holding and guiding the stencil includes a pair of guide-fingers33, each of which carries a feed-roll 3st for engaging the end of the stencil, said rolls having roughened engaging surfaces as shown to insure a tight grip on the stencil. The feed-rolls co-operate with the platen 11, and

the guide-fingers are supported in front of the platen, one at each side edge of the carhon-strip 12, with the feed-rolls in such position that they engage the stencil beyond the side edges of the carbon-strip. The guidefingers 33 are flared outwardly immediately below the feed-rolls 34: to facilitate the insertion of the stencil-card and are mounted for adjustment toward and from each other, both being supported by a rod 35, the ends of which are secured in soclretcd brackets 72 by screws 71 and 73. As shown in Figure 2, the flattened ends of the brackets 72 rest on the carriage end plates, and are secured thereto by means of screws 36 threaded through the flattened ends into engagement with the end plates,

Each guide-finger has at its upper end a lateral U shaped extension, directed rearwardly at substantially a right angle to said guide-finger. The arms 87 and 38 of the extensions are journaled on the rod 35., and

other arm 47 of each pair rests upon the tie-rod L1. 'The springs tend to press the guide-fingers toward the platen, but the movement of said fingers and of the feedrolls 34: toward the platen is limited to a position where the rolls are just out of contact with the platen, by the engagement of the arms 4i? with the tie-rod 41. This arrangement prevents the roughened engaging surfaces of the feed-rolls from marring the platen. 1

The shield-plate 45 is a guide for the insertion of the stencil 13 between the feed rolls and the platen. The stencil is inserted by positioning it against the shieldplate, with its lower edge supported by the feed-rolls and the platen. Upon turning the platen rei'ersely, the stencil will be fed downwardly into position for the writing of the first line, and the downward movement of the stencil is limited, and its final position determined, by the guide-fingers 33 which are bent at right angles adjacent their lower extremities to form stops 33 arranged toengage the end of said stencil. The bent ends of the guide-fingers bear against one of the rods 49 of the carriage.

Blocks 33", such as those illustrated in Figure 4., may be used to limit the lower edge of the stencil, since it is quite often required to write the first line in the stencil at a considerable distance down from the top edge thereof. Suitable fastening screws, as shown, pass through a perforation in the guide-fingers and into the blocks, and it is obvious that the sizes of said blocks may vary to meet particular requirements. In the modified form of guide-finger illustrated in Figure l the blocks 33 are dispensed with, and. stop means provided by suitably cutting and bending the lower ends of the fingers. An ear 10, formed by bendng an extension of the rower outside edge 11 of the guide-finger at right angles, is

arranged to bear against the rod49 to position the lower end of the finger. A portion of the lower end of the finger is cut away at 12 and then bent up at right angles to form a stop 13 for engaging the stencil card, as will be readily understood.

Each of the feed-rolls 34 has means in connection therewith to engage the platen to drive the rolls. Said means for each feedroll is a drive-roll 50, and each feed-roll and its driveroll are secured to a common shaft 51, the feed-roll being at the inner end of the shaft. T

A laterally-extending plate 52 secured to each guidelinger just above the shaft 51 by screws 5301- the like, and each plate 52 has a depending portion 54: at its outer end, which carries a bearing 55 for the adiacent shaft 51. The bearings extend the full length of the shafts between the rolls 3a and 50, said bearings being open troughs, as shown in Figure 7.

It will be noticed, referring to Figure 7, that each bearing is open toward the platen, and means is provided for rotatably connecting the shaft to the hearing, at the end adjacent the guide-finger. Said means is a staple 56. The arms of the staple are passed through the sides of the bearing, as shown in Figure 7, and the shaft is annularly grooved to receive the arms, the arms engaging the groove at opposite sides of the shaft. The shaft is thus freely rotatable in the bearing, but is prevented from longitudinal movement. Since the staple 56 is at the finger 83-, the shaft is free to move toward the platen at the end adjacent the driveroll 50, but is limited in its movement away from the platen by the closed portion of the bearing. The drive-roll 50, which is of rubher or the like, has a bushing 57 which engages a reduced portion of the shaft 51., and the roll is held in place by means of a screw 58 threaded into an opening in the end of the shaft.

The laterally-extending member 52 provides a resilient connection between the bearing and the guide-finger, so that the bearing may rock at either end toward or from the platen, and the axis upon which the bearing rocks is at about the middle of the shaft. The springs 42 normally press the guidefingers, and. as a consequence, the feedrolls, toward the platen, but the movement of the rolls toward the platen is limited by the engagement of the arms 4LT with the tierod 41, to a position where the roughened engaging surfaces of the feed-rolls are ust out of engagement with the platen. The springs 42- pern'iit the guide-fingers, including the feed-rolls and their connections, to move bodily away from the platen. When a stencil is fed between the feed-rolls and the platen, as indicated in Figure 4, the feed-rolls are pressed outward away from the platen, and the drive-rolls 50 are pressed toward the platen, and into close driving engagement therewith. The greater the force tending to move the feed-rolls away from the platen, the greater the force tending to move the driverolls into engagement with the platen. A con siderable freedom of movement is permitted to the shaft 51 by its peculiar mounting. In the first place, the feed-rolls have free movement toward the platen to a limited degree, because the rotatable connections with the bearings are at the ends adjacent the feedrolls. If this movement is not sufficient for the purpose, the bearings may rock upon their connection with the guide-fingers, and, if this does not yet suffice, the feed-rolls and the guide-fingers may move bodily away from the platen.

In order to facilitate the cutting of the stencil, a backing 59 of hard surface material, as, for instance, celluloid, is held on the platen, at the point where the carbon-strip passes around the same. This backing is held in place by a holder 60 in the form of a plate, extending longitudinally of the platen and clamping the edges of the backing to the surface of the platen. At each end the holder-plate has a lateral extension 61 extending diametrically of the platen, and forked, as indicated at 62, to pass on opposite sides of the shaft 63 of the platen. arms of the fork have inwardly-extending lugs 6% which engage the edges of the end plates 65 of the platen to secure the holder in place. These extensions 61 are resilient, and means is provided for springing the free ends of the extensions away from the platen, to disengage the lugs 6 f. Said means is in the form of yokes 66. The arms of each yoke are secured to the extension on opposite sides of the slot, and the body-portions are offset outwardly away from the platen ends, as shown more particularly in Figure 1. When the offset ends are grasped and pressed inwardly, the lugs 64: are disengaged, after which the holder may be removed from the platen.

The holder 60 is furthermore reduced in width intermediate its ends to provide gage means 60 for centering the backing 59 upon the stencil-cylinder. A pair of aligned perforations 60 extending longitudinally of the reduced portion of the holder enables the abutting edges of the backing to be observed for adjusting the same equally beneath the clamping edges of the holder.

Mechanism is provided to limit the. angular movement of the platen to about 180 degrees, so that at no time will the holder plate come to the printing point. Said mechanism comprises pins 68 at one end of the platen, the pins being on a diameter of said end. The pins are designed to engage a stop 69 on an arm 70, which is secured to the adjacent bracket 72. The stop-portion of this arm is in position to be engaged by the pins 68 when the platen has moved angularly through a distance of 180 degrees. One pin engages one edge of the stop, and the other, the other edge.

The entire attachment can be removed from the machine, leaving it in condition for ill I/Vhen the bodies of the yokes 66 are pressed toward each other, lugs o l are refeed-rolls and guide-fingers is adjustable angularly, since, as described, the ends of the rod are received in the socketed brackets 72 and secured therein by thescrews 71 and 73, The stop-arm is rigid with one of the brackets 72 and always bears the same relation to the platen regardless of the ad justment of the rod 35.

In operation, the parts being properly positioned and adjusted, a stencil is placed against the plate as, and the platen is re versely rotated to feed the stencil down between the feed-rolls 3t and the platen. As the ends of the stencil pass beneath the feedrolls, the shafts 51 are rocked to move the drive-rolls 50 into engagement with the platen, and the feed-rolls 34: are frictionally driven by the platen. The roughened engaging surfaces of said rolls insure a tight grip. When the stencil is in position for the writing of the first line, the movement of the platen is checked, and, as each line is written, the platen is turned to feed the stencil upwardly. The carbon-strip being between the platen and the stencil, makes the letters impressed on the stencil visible, and, as the strip becomes worn, it maybe shifted to bring a new part thereof into writing position. After the platen has been turned to the position of Figure 5, the movement will be checked by the engagement of the pins 68 with the stop 69. This will occur only occasionally, since the movement of the platen is backward and forward to feed the stencil into and outof writing position.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention. and ortions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In an attachment for a typewriting machine having a platen, a guide-finger for a stencil, a shaft extending transversely of the finger, having at one end a feed-roll for the stencil and at the other a drive-roll to engage the platen, a bearing for the shaft, a resilient connection between the finger and the bearing, to permit a limited rocking movement of the bearing transversely of the finger, the bearing comprising a trough-shaped member, and means to hold the shaft in the bearing, including a staple passing through the opposite walls of the bearing andseatedastride of the shaft, the shaft being annularly grooved to receive the staple.

2. An attachment for a typewriting machine having a platen, comprising a pair of guide-fingers for a stencil, means for connection with the machine to support the fingers depending in front of the platen, a

a shaft extending transversely of each finger,

having at the inner end thereof a feed-roll for engaging the stencil, and at the outer end a drive-roll for engaging the platen, a bearing for each shaft, and a resilient con nection between each bearing and the adjacent finger, to permit a limited rocking movement of the shaft transversely to the plane of the fingers, each bearing extending the full length of the shaft between the rolls. 7

3. An attachment for a typewriting machine having a platen, comprising a pair of guide-fingers for a stencil, means for connection with the machine to support the fingers depending in front of the platen, a shaft extending transversely of each linger, having at the inner end thereof a feed-roll for engaging the stencil, and at the outer end a drive-roll for engaging the platen, a bearing for each shaft, and a resilient connection between each bearing and the adjacent finger, to permit a limitedrocking movement of the shaft transversely to the plane of the fingers, each bearing extending the full length of the shaft between the rolls, and the connection engaging the bearing at the end adjacent the friction-roll.

I. In a typewriting machine, a platen mounted for rotation, a carriage therefor, a rigid tie element extending longitudinally of and secured to said carriage, a pair of pins on the end of said platen, located on the same diameter, and a stop arm depend.-

ing from said element and extending within the periphery of said platen to be engaged alternately by said pins.

5. In an attachment for a typewriting machine having a platen, a guide-finger for a stencil, a shaft extending transversely thereof, having atone end a feed-roll to cooperate with the platen to feed the stencil, and at the other end a drive-roll to engage the platen to drive the feed-roll, and means to resiliently support the shaft for rocking movement toward and from the platen and for bodily movement away from the platen, said means including a resilient plate extending laterally from the finger and having a depending portion in which the shaft is journaled.

6. An attachment for a typewriting machine, comprising a frame including means to engage the carriage, a shaft for each end of a carbon-strip journaled in the frame, and a common means to prevent longitudinal movement of the shafts, simultaneously engaging and releasing the shafts, and having means for locking it in engaged position.

7. An attachment for a typewriting machine, comprising a frame including means to engage the carriage to constrain the frame to travel with the carriage, a shaft for each end of a carbon-strip on which the strip winds, and a member pivoted to one end of the frame between the shafts to swing at its ends into simultaneous engagement with the shafts, said shafts annularly grooved for engagement by said ends. 7

8. An attachment for a typewriter, comprising a frame including means to engage the carriage to constrain the frame to travel therewith, shafts journaled in the frame for engagement by the ends of a carbon-strip winding upon the shafts, and aresilient plate mounted to rock between the shafts, the ends of the plate engaging the strip winding upon the shafts to tension the strip.

9. The combination with a typewriting machine having a platen cylinder, of means cooperating with said platen cylinder to secure a sheet of material there-around, said means including a holder, and means for deiachably securing the same upon theplaten cylinder, said holder extending horizontally of the platen cylinder for clamping the edges of the sheet to the platen cylinder, and having its opposite edges cut away adjacent its intermediate portion for a distance equal to the width of the sheet, to provide gage means for centering said sheet longitudinally of said platen cylinder.

10. The combination with a typewriting machine having a platen cylinder, of means cooperating with the platen cylinder to se cure a sheet of material therearound, said means including a holder, and means for detachably securing the sameupon the platen cylinder, said holder extending horizontally of the platen cylinder for clamping the edges of the sheet to the platen cylinder, and

having a pair of spaced perforations aligned longitudinally of the holder and adjacent its intermediate portion providing sight means to enable the edges of said sheet to be observed for adjusting and clamping equally beneath the holder.

11. The combination with a typewriting machine having a platen cylinder, of means cooperating with said platen cylinder to se cure a sheet of material therearound, said means including a holder, and means for detachably securing the same upon the platen cylinder, said holder extending horizontally of the platen cylinder for clamping the edges of the sheet to said platen cylinder and including gage means for centering the sheet longitudinally of said platen cylinder, said holder being also provided adjacent its sheetengaging portion with a pair of longitudinally-aligned perforations spaced apart equal distances from the opposite ends of the holder, said perforations permitting the abutting edges of the sheet to be observed therethrough for adjusting and clamping said edges equally beneath the holder.

12. The combination with a typewriting machine having a platen cylinder, of means cooperating with said platen cylinder to secure a sheet of material therearound, said means including a holder, and means for de tachably securing the same upon the platen cylinder, said holder extending horizontally of the platen cylinder for clamping the edges of the sheet to the platen cylinder, and being reduced in width adjacent its intermediate portion to provide gage means for centering the sheet longitudinally of said platen cylinder, said holder also having a pair of longitudinally-aligned perforations adjacent its intermediate portion providing sight means to enable the edges of said sheet to be observed through said perforations for adjusting and clamping said edges equally beneath the holder.

ALFRED G. F. KUROVVSKI. 

